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After almost religiously reading the various trip reports for the past 18 months, I decided I would do one of my own. This was to be my 8th trip to Kruger after first going when I was 9 years old. I have been lucky enough to go in September for the last 3 years, with my parents being kind enough to include us in their holiday. Unfortunately my brother who is in London would not be able to join us, but then he would be on holiday on a yacht in Croatia! So here goes….

21/09/2007 and 22/09/2007

Friday morning the car was packed and we were finally off to Kruger after months of anticipation. We still had 4 hours of work to get through before we could hit the road (4 very long hours!). 12 o’clock finally arrived and we were off only to be stuck in the infamous JHB Friday afternoon traffic. Once through this mess we were on the open road to Hazyview to meet my parents for 1 night before embarking into the wonderful world of Kruger. A restless night was finally over, the cars repacked and Phabeni Gate loomed. We were at the gate at 5.50 and about the 20th car in the queue. Checking in was relatively smooth and we were having our first beer and on the road by 6.30!

With windows down, beers in hand, the unmistakable smell of the bush swirling through the car, we wound our way along the S1 towards Skukuza. Our 2nd and 3rd sightings (after the obligatory Impala) were Buffalo and Elephant – a good start to what was to be 7 days of quite incredible sightings. Further along Kudu, Zebra, Giraffe, Grey Duiker and Steenbok all welcomed us into the park. My parents who were driving behind us, suddenly pulled up next to me, informing me that nature was calling and they would meet us at Skukuza. No problem we would see them there. We came around the next corner and were confronted by 30 plus cars and buses causing a traffic jam to be proud of. I had a small chuckle because my poor Dad’s heart must have sunk a touch, with nature calling and no way to get through! Anyway, we slowly approached scanning frantically left and right for what was causing this chaos – there it was, lying on top of an anthill, 50 metres in from the road – a magnificent female leopard! After 2 minutes or so she had clearly had enough and she meandered off into the bush. But she was not alone! Just behind her was a little leopard cub, bouncing along! Unfortunately the sighting of the cub was very short but still exhilarating! Fully expecting everyone to slowly make there way now we started calming down. However, nobody moved! Now scanning again we looked to the left and lurking in the long grass was a juvenile leopard. She was very nervous with all the traffic around, with car and buses constantly jockeying for position. She would slowly make her way to the road before running back and hiding again. This went on for about 20 minutes before we realized we were suddenly alone with her – everyone had moved on. Suddenly a small movement in the front and there she was, not 5 metres from our car, still nervous, trying to build the courage to cross the road. Her courage was however blasted away by a green day tripper van pulling up, with the driver screaming to her clients about the leopard, with no consideration about us watching her quietly.

Thoroughly pleased with ourselves, we moved on, to notice my parents coming back in the other direction. They had been informed of about 10 or 12 lion on a kill down one of the dirt roads. So off we went to our second great sighting within 20 minutes. A beautiful male lion was having a good go on the ribs of what looked like the remains of a Buffalo. Once he was fully satisfied he moved off into the riverbed, and the lionesses moved in. On the road to Skukuza we also saw rhino mother and youngish calf, to complete the Big 5 within 2 hours of entering the park!

We devoured some toasted sarmies for breakfast and began the long drive to Satara. We took the H1-2, we saw a huge croc, hippos and my very first Nyala in the park on this my 8th visit to the park. Up to Tshokwane was pretty uneventful but plenty of general game all the way. Just outside Tshokwane a lion and lionesses were sitting guard on a buffalo kill. By now it was seriously hot and they would not be moving for while. Pressing on we stopped at Mazithi Dam and had our 3rd lion sighting of the day – these lion were also not moving in the mega heat. There was also an elephant cooling off in the little bit of water that was available.

Check in at Satara went smoothly and we unpacked before heading out for an evening drive along the H7 towards Orpen. At Nsemani Dam a number of vultures were picking at was left of an oldish Zebra kill. A thoroughly successful and enjoyable day was completed with the African sky above, cold beers in hand, the smell of the Potato Tree wafting about, the prrtttt of the African Scops Owl, and pork chops sizzling on the braai. What would tomorrow hold…..

Up early, coffee and rusks consumed ensuring all cylinders firing for the morning spotting. We headed out the gate at 6.05 along the H1-4 towards Oliphants. We took this drive very slowly and as we are just getting into out birding we stopped at all the birds along the way to work out what they were. We manage to spot three Pearl Spotted Owls which are fantastic little birds. We were also entertained for a good 10 minutes by a Secretary bird on the side of the road who was in search of his morning meal. We all chuckled with the way he stomps around shaking all the bugs out of their safe little homes before devouring them. Slightly further on my mother pointed out 3 darkish birds on the right side of the road. Once stopped we realised they were Glossy Starlings but something was bobbing along below them…..3 Honey Badgers! Excitement erupted in the car as we watched them bounce towards us and across the road before heading off. We did not even get a photo as we simply watched the three of them wander by. This was a major tick and something I have always wanted to see in the wild. Suitably buoyed by this sighting we carried on our merry way. We came across a male lion drinking before walking back to join a further 2 lion (you will notice that this trip was to be dominated by lion). We made our way along the S39 Timbavati River road with no further major sightings but plenty of game and birds to keep us going.

We had our fried brekkie at Timbavati (the ablutions were without water so I will not go into any details of the state there were in) We made our way back to Satara to chill out for a while and have a power nap. It was seriously hot today, with the temp exceeding 40 degrees in the afternoon.

For the arvie drive we headed on the S90, then the S41 and finally S100….we spotted Tawny Eagle, Bateleur, a Martial Eagle eating a Francolin and numerous smaller birds. No major sightings for the afternoon but a thoroughly enjoyable drive coming back along the S100 back into camp. Another braai and another tough day completed.

My wife and I woke early as we were off on an early morning bushwalk. We were chuffed to be joined by only 2 other people and with Metwell as our guide we had a great time. It’s a very different kind of experience we you get out the car, to be standing there in the bush and feeling pretty insignificant with only Metwells skills and “walking stick” to protect you. Excitably we headed off and spotted Impala, Grey Duiker, Giraffe and then the magical words of “Lion”. 200 metres lying in the open sat a magnificent lion. We tried to make our way closer but he was onto us and headed off into the bush. Next up, the unmistakable roar of lions mating – Metwell pointed them out to us and promptly decided we would have our breakfast here. So with the warm morning sun slowly rising, and 2 lions mating not 150 metres away we sat and ate. Back on the trail Metwell pointed out what I thought was a track left by a large snake. Metwell however pointed out the spoor of a young leopard and informed us that this leopard must have dragged its prey up a tree somewhere nearby and recently. We tracked it and managed to find the Impala in the tree, hardly touched at all, but no leopard. It really was a super experience and Metwell was fantastic, very informative and good fun.

For our afternoon drive we made our way along the Sweni road and found 4 more lion sleeping in the shade. With a quick stop at Muzandzeni picnic site we then made our way back to camp. We were rewarded with our first Hyena sighting just 500 metres from camp. Tonight we made our first ever lamb potjie (we actually started it the previous night). It worked out beautifully and probably the simplest meal you can make!

Today we again were out the gate at 6.05 and were prepared for a long day in the car as we were heading to Mlondozi dam for breakfast, near Lower Sabie. The day however dawned cloudy and much much cooler then the previous 3 days. 10 minutes from camp our first traffic jam of the day – 2 young lions taking complete control of the road. They would lie in the road, get up and wander from side to side, lie down again with not a care in the world or awareness of the chaos they were causing with all the cars! We enjoyed this spectacle for a good 45 minutes and got incredibly close to them at times – almost touching distance. We were in know doubt as to the sheer size and strength of these animals having never been so close to active, wild lions. So the first 10kms of our trip had taken over an hour! We made our way to Tsokwane and enjoyed lots of general game sightings, a lovely white rhino crossed the road for us and few ellies and just before Tsokwane about 10 lion who had just devoured a buffalo. After Tshokwane it started raining lightly and our sightings seemed to dry up a bit. We did see a lovely ostrich family with 10 little chicks in tow which was another first for us. We also spotted a Verreauxs Eagle Owl in a tree by the river. We decided against Mlondozi dam for breakfast as it was not great weather and decided on toasted sarmies at Lower Sabie instead.

We placed an order for 4 toasted sandwiches. 35 minutes later nothing had arrived so we went to investigate. They had not even started cooking them yet! Only once we complained did they then get about making them. By now everyone was starting to get very agitated about waiting for their food and quite a crowd built up and the poor waitresses were getting the brunt of it. Surely SANParks can organize this better. Some people waited over an hour for their food. This is simply not good enough and I hope something is being done. At Skukuza a few days earlier we ordered the same and didn’t wait 10 minutes and it was far busier there. Please SANParks get this right, simple organization is all that is needed.

Anyway, back on the road towards Skukuza, we again saw lion lying in the riverbed but not a great sighting. Back at Tsokwane we went and took another look at the lion on the buffalo kill and they were all sleeping it off. On the road to Satara nothing spectacular was seen. We decided to do the first bit of the Sweni road to see if the lion were about. We didn’t see any lion but we did see something very strange – we came across a good number of vultures fighting over a carcass. After a bit of moving back and forward we established that it was a dead hyena. It was very strange to see but we did enjoy watching the hierarchy of the various vultures with the Lappetfaced clearly holding rank over the others and the Whitebacked at the very end of the queue!

My parents spoilt us with a meal at the restaurant over a bottle of champagne tonight which was delicious and a welcome break from cooking. It is the 3rd time I have eaten there and by far the best in terms of the food they served. A long day completed, more excellent sightings, and a good dinner to finish it off!

Day Five dawned and again we were out the gate at 6.05. We headed along the H7 towards Orpen. There was no action as Nsemani dam for a change. We encountered a huge heard of Buffalo crossing the road. We sat for about 15 minutes waiting for them to cross the road and it felt like we would be there for hours there were so many! A SANParks car pulled up and drove slowly towards the Buffs and they parted a bit so we could get through. If that car had not arrived I think we would still be sitting there waiting for them to cross. It was a monster herd!

Slightly further along we came 3 cars stopped and were promptly informed of yet another lion sighting! A good number of lion were sitting in the sand of the Timbavati River. We watched them for a while before heading on. We spotted our first Blackbacked Jackal of the trip running along the horizon pretty close to Orpen. A coffee stop at Orpen and we headed along the S106 back towards Satara. We saw very little game on the way back to camp.

After a much needed rest and bite to eat we headed out again. My folks who had gone out on their own informed us of a Giraffe kill on the H6 towards Nwanetsi Dam. They had seen 8 Hyena patrolling a giraffe kill that was guarded by an old looking lion. We quickly made our way there! Some of the Hyena had moved off and we could only spot 3. We spoke to one of the guides who had been at the kill in the morning and he had seen between 15 and 20 Hyena around the kill which must have been something spectacular! I can only imagine that a pride of lion took the Giraffe down and once full had moved off. There was no way that the lonely lion sitting watch had killed that giraffe (and there were no more lion about). Any suggestions? After enjoying this for a half hour or so we headed to Sweni hide and enjoyed another half hour trying to improve our bird identification skills.

We then headed along the S41 to join the S100 back to camp. As we joined the S100 a car flagged us down and informed us of a young female leopard in one of the little circles down to the river. Hearts pounding and not knowing which circle to take we took each one. As we pulled into the first one, walking in front of us across the river was a massive lion! We enjoyed him all to ourselves for a little while before heading off in pursuit of the leopard! We found the correct circle and asked the first car where she was – our hearts sank – she had just jumped out the tree and no one could see her! Dam that lion we had just sighted! Only now did we notice that below the same tree the leopard was in, a lone ellie was happily eating. Suddenly she went berserk and we quickly realized the leopard was somewhere close. And finally there she was, hurtling back up the tree away from the ellie. But not for long, she clearly was uneasy about the presence of the ellie, so she hopped down and headed off into the grass. Phew it was all a bit hectic. The car next to us informed us she had left her Impala kill in the tree so we decided to wait it out to see if she came back……30 minutes later our patience was rewarded by her suddenly appearing and getting back to her afternoon snack. I must point out here that a forum member (I noticed the yellow ribbon on her Landie) helped us out with a better spot to see the leopard. We were in a sedan so a bit low and she helped us out! So thank you whoever you were!

So we sat and watched this beautiful creature for a while. Little did we know we were about to rewarded even more….Suddenly there was commotion to the left of us…..lo and behold a lioness was now walking towards us! She circled the tree; the young leopard had by now scrambled higher into the tree. The lioness started eating the scraps that must have falling off the carcass. We enjoyed 10 minutes of this not knowing whether to look at the leopard or the lioness! Another commotion…. a herd of ellies now appeared on the scene! The lioness had had enough of all this and slinked off. The leopard was now perturbed by the ellies so she was still high up in the tree. The ellies meandered off with our young leopard now looking rather relaxed high up in the tree, firmly slotted in the fork of two branches. Reluctantly time was running out to make the gate so we headed off back to camp. We did see our lioness again, looking very alert and in the mood for a meal….

We still had a night drive to get through….We saw some buffs, ellies, waterbuck, impala and were very excited to see our first civet! It was very shy and darted off quickly. We also saw 2 Hyena on the way back to camp. We collapsed into bed with a day of mega sightings replaying themselves over and over in our heads….

We awoke with my Dad frantically calling my name – a honey badger had just wandered in front of our cottage! We frantically searched for him but no joy! But then a bin being knocked over not to far away…. We walked up quietly and there he sat slowly munching someone’s leftovers. I must admit though that I do not like seeing animals like this (and the genet we saw nearly every night) in the camps scrounging for food. We left slightly later today owing to the early morning sighting. We headed down the H1-3 and then turned onto the S126. It was a quite morning game wise with not much other then the usual game. A quick stop at Muzandzeni and we headed along the S36 on our way to Nhlanguleni for breakfast. The game viewing picked up a bit now and we saw rhino, ellies and another lonesome lion. We pulled into the picnic spot and before us at the waterhole were 4 magnificent Sable! I have seen them once before and have wanted to see them again for a long time so this was a really fantastic sighting! They stayed around for 15 minutes or so before wondering off.

Just a note now on the state of the skottels that you hire at the picnic spots. The one we hired at Timbavati only just worked but it took a long time to cook our breakfast. Here at Nhlanguleni they only have 3 working skottels (we got the last one) but the people who pulled in behind us now had to wait for someone else to finish – surely if you have 5 tables you need 5 skottels? Ours did not work well at all and it was battling to cook bacon. Halfway through our ordeal of trying to cook our meal it ran out of gas. Surely if you only have three skottels you need to ensure that they are gassed? And the ones they have don’t even work well. They are in desperate need of replacement. I even think most people would be prepared to pay a bit more to cover the cost of new ones and the cost would be covered in no time.

Back on our way we headed along the S33 to join the H1-3. We saw a lovely heard of ellies. We saw far less ellies this year then previously and at times wondered where they had all gone! Once we hit the H1-3 we did the N’waswitsonto Loop and had yet another lion sighting. They had recently killed a kudu bull and all their tummies were bursting! This was very close to the road and we managed to get a good spot very quickly. We sat enjoying this sighting for a good amount of time. The one lioness was still gorging herself on the kill, while her sister protected the kill from the increasingly brazen vultures. The smell when the wind changed was something else!

We relaxed in camp for a while before heading along the S100 for a bit. This road really is too busy at times so we headed back towards Nsemani Dam and Girvana waterhole. At Girvana we witnessed a lion having a good long drink at the waterhole. We had also been told about a wounded lioness in the grass. After a bit of help from the car next to us we spotted her. She simply sat there and roared out for help. We could not see what was actually wrong with her but she was clearly not comfortable. It was all quiet and then her roar would echo through the veld. The experience of hearing the call of this king of beasts, tempered somewhat with the knowledge that she was not well and may infact not survive the night.

Our last night and finished off in style with lamp chops on the braai. With a heavy heart sleep encroached with the realization that tomorrow would be our last in the park.

Cars packed and out the gate at our usual time of 6.05! We would be driving down the H1-3, then H1-2 to Skukuza for a toasted sandwich, before heading on the H1-1 and then H3 out Malelane gate. Game viewing was slow today our last day. We visited the kill of yesterday on the N’waswitsontso loop and could find absolutely no trace that anything had happened there – not even a carcass! 2 Hyena slept lazily just before Tshokwane. Very little was seen towards Skukuza. On the H4-1 we saw an abandoned leopard kill in a tree next to the road. We did not have the time to wait a while so headed on (and the green buggies were seriously building up!) A lovely heard of ellies crossed the road for us with the cutest little baby. Down to Afsaal and then Malelane it appeared that all the game had disappeared. So on this our last we did not see any lion, the only day out of 7! Malelane gate loomed and out we went suitable refreshed with the smell of the bush lingering just long enough to ensure it won’t be too long before we return again.

In all the times I have been to Kruger I don’t think I have ever had such good sightings. We saw 4 leopards including the cub and 2 young ones. In total we saw 69 lion which is just incredible and when I tell people they think I am making it up. As mentioned previously, ellies did not seem to be as prevalent as in previous years and we also only saw about 6 or 7 rhino where as previously we have seen as many as 15 in one day. We were also rewarded with such special sightings as the honey badgers and the sable. In total we saw 5 different kills all with action around them. We took our birding seriously for the first time and recorded 69 sightings, with highlights being the Secretary bird feeding, the martial eagle eating the francolin and the pearl spotted owls. Kruger delivered once again and it won’t be long before it draws me back.